I dont think Cronulla sharks are going anywhere, they’ll be all cashed up soon, and the focus for relocations will be on another sydney side again in another 2 months, i mean the womens game is about to expand i hear, and theyll be another 2 teams (moneys on souths and cronulla to get that)
Geographically nrl doesnt make sense, but it spawned from the NSWRL (even tho canberra, brisbane and gold coast were added later in the 80s) thus why in 1990s it was renamed to be ARL (even though auckland then entered) and of course a new name after 98 reformed to NRL. My point is if we started this league from scratch, every major city would probably have only 2 teams, and the smaller towns only 1. Bascally it would be the A-league, im not sure thats an ideal footprint.
I appreciate where its beginnings are and hope all teams stay, with more teams added,and/or sydney teams relocated too, the brands of most of these teams are well known enough around Australia, simply adding a team in brisbane north and/or west should be viable with the 2nd tier teams and Qld able to take on atleast 3 new teams, but perth and adelaide need relocations to work, they got no junior base, atleast not at NRL level of quality.
whether its from a sydney team or not, i would think tigers would be the only club that could make a relocation work, maybe manly (if there was a central coast team in its place) sydney roosters would be a better transition for a relocation as they are well run, and have money. but lack crowds support, yes theyll be a bit better now that they won this year,
But if your gonna call yourself sydney, you should be pulling in 20k in crowds minimum. maybe theres too many teams here in sydney, but i guarantee any team that jumps to relocate to perth or adelaide, theyll be dwarfing the crowds theyll be currently getting if they had stayed. Purely as theyll be one team city, gold coast is a prime example of how a brandless team started, and doesn’thave the support it should have im sure there are many other factors too, but look forward to seeing that if you start a fresh team in perth, or Adelaide. Not to mention gold coast has a good crop of junior teams and talent, yet not supported well, Melbourne storm on t he other hand are well supported, but they have a much bigger population and are a sport crazy city, helps also that theyve won premierships too. Perth and Adelaide are a risky expansion, but if was a relocation of Perth Tigers and Adelaide Roosters, might not have a rough start, that new teams have had in the past. Plus their brands and heritage might bring extra crowds in that area aswell as when they play away in sydney.
Stgeorge need to be more present in the gong, atleast 8 games there, 4 at kogarah.
Tigers need to really need to plant themselves either campbelltown or leichardt, too many different stadiums this year, and Panthers need more games in the rural towns in central west, not just Bathurst
I reckon in a few years we’ll see the sydney sides wise up and spread out, especially with the competition becoming closer, if that trend holds like this year did

Maybe they could be called the
“Morten Bay Bugs” and have redcliffe dolphins feed it hehe….
I agree Redcliffe is definitely worthy
Maybe a team north of that combining Sunshine coast to Redcliffe, but still be the “dolphins”
Im hoping they go with two new South Qld teams with the other call South Qld Devils? maybe? That will cover the western corrider, much like the west tigers spreads out from balmain to ashfield to campbelltown, the same could apply for logan to ipswich to even far west toowomba, i mean the NQ cowboys, covers a large region, but mainly townsville

Also relocations for 2 sydney teams for perth and adelaide as they would lack a strong junior base feeding the 30man squad if they were introduced, prime example is when melbourne started they had a few teams fold, so major signings came from there. But they had north Sydney bears feeding them too, now its some of the qld junior teams, falcons i think at the moment,
Perth would need a strong club feeding it to be successful otherwise why bother
Where as brand new teams in south qld would work as it has plenty of lower grade team to help feed them

So broncos model of making sure only one team exists in a 2.5 million person region/city, and salary cap cheating newscorp hand-feed storm are the examples all clubs should be emulating?
I think that is whats happening

Cheated, and then they won, who cares if the trophy is stripped, points deducted, the games over they know they won, what the NRL should have done back then, is give the trophy to parramatta or have parra play against whoever came third that year and re-give that trophy to whoever wins that, send a message that you cheat and your GF wont make the history books validly, as it stands now, they are entered as the winner, but “stripped” with no winner that year,
poor nathan hindmarsh

My top 4 in no order
Dragons (good group of talented players, widdop, hunt and norman combo, kaboom!)
Penrith (way too much talent and most are representative/internationals plus their freaky last 10min combacks should scare the comp, all theyve needed is a good defensive coach = Ivan C or trent robbo, but with all that and James Maloney being the weakest link in that team? Watch out)
Brisbane (Seibolds analytical coaching style, and those young forwards will run over most teams if they stay fit, its how the backline capitalise, which sees how far they go)
Easts ( i refuse to call them sydney,”how dare they” but just based off last years defensive strategies, and the grind they put on teams theyll be there again)
Bottom 5-8
Newcastle (experienced tough players, hopefully they gel, along with the flamboyant ponga)
Canterbury (watch out for Lachlan Lewis, among the other crop of young talent, these guys will bounce back hard and fast)
Souths (bennets influence, plus talent already there, theyll make the 8, injuries will dictate this tho)
Warriors ( without johnson, theyll be missing a half, but blake green IS a halfback, shadowing others as a 5/8th (daly, johnson etc) if he takes the reigns himself, warriors will reach higher than last year, there is plenty of 5/8 NZ juniors that know how to flick pass to shadow him)
Bottom 8
Melbourne ( billy gone, munster will be the fullback, with cameron smith needs to play 5/8th, brode at half, brandon smith hooking, its the only way storm will win games this year, until they figure thst out, but i see a long year much like the cowboys2018 )
Parramatta ( no more hayne, normans got greener pastures, moses is now the man, alongside a stable spine of gutho, bevan, prichard, but unless their forwards fire, theyll struggle again)
Wests ( should do well, dependant on their spines injurys of Mbye, brooks,benji,Farrar, and reynolds efforts off the bench, dangerous team if again forwards fire)
NthQld (morgan fit, theyll win most games, but forwards are still slugish, theyll need guys like kyle felt, and ethan lowe to be on field to help morgan otherwise another slump year)
Canberra (halfback creation issues, dumb time management in closing out games, backline is selfish, might get close to 8 again, nuff said)
Cronulla (lost too many key players in tyhe backline, jesse ramien and luke lewis leaving, have already dropped these guys out of contention, plus shaun johnson, will end up like mitchell moses did for parra2018, too many cooks)
Gold coast (tyrone peachey/ash taylor combo will be special highlight reels for them this year, and AJ brimson will improve, theyll rise but injurys might make them miss out again)
Manly (daly will realise he shouldn’t be the markee player and captain manly needs, dessy will be needing a few years for manly to get back to the 8 again, my prediction is they get the ugly old assed spoon= and first time too)

Another “let’s bag another sydney team into relocating” thread, last month it was” reasons why manly must go to perth”
Before that Wests tigers, and newcastle moving to Brisbane. Geez enough please!
kinda getting sick of these articles, i like the notion of NRL moving peices around for expansion into bigger markets
And teams relocating on their own accord,
But there seems to an affiliat iion that when clubs are in some media strife, relocations rears its head. If i was living in perth or west of brisbane i wouldn’t be looking to support a team with baggage

Up to me id be sending stable teams like Easts, no one wants baggage

Roosters 13k is pushing it, take away the adelaide 17k and central coast 10k match last year and roosters were lucky to get 12k
At allianz stadium only
There was a game vs st george although this was an st george home game on anzac day, not your typical weekend match
Some home matches were higher like vs souths or brisbane, but most hit the 10k mark, is that still worth a rebuild

Souths play at anz stadium in homebush
Not sure why waratahs, sydney fc and roosters need a new stadium rebuild, sydney fc pull in crowds i suppose, but roosters please what a waste

Player transfers, and coaches changing buses, happens all the time especially in other codes overseas
We are so used to loyal players and staff to a club from pre 95 arl, that we forget that when superleague divide all us fans
Nrl reunited us, but at a cost of the progression the arl started, we already had a 2nd brisbane team, and a team in perth
Superleague had one in adelaide and a Melbourne on the way
Expansion had already happened!
Paid professional full time players
A national rugby league!
We lost all of it with the nrl forming from the split, now we need to get back there
This coaching carosel happened in 94 too
Its not unique, its just more water cooler conversations, im more intrested in when we get back to the Winfield Cup of 95, when we got to 20 teams and we looked to be Australia’s premier code, NRL right now is “Superleague” i dont see the difference
Its a business!

Your idea only works as geographical map pin pointing to suggest sydney (where the NSWRL was founded, which became ARL,then now NRL)
Should only have one team,
This is too finite of an idea, yes less team in sydney could make expansion easier, but to have only one team, no way, rivalries are needed, the chaos that is sydney
Id be looking at dropping maybe 2 clubs to reserves and permanently have dragons in wollongong
That should be enough

A league is the game your thinking of

This whole no team in NZ is rubbish, form is not something that should be used as measurement for worthiness for a licence
The average crowd in auckland does better than most average crowds in sydney, nz is a already established since 1995, and we need to get back to perth, sth qld, and Adelaide again, the 9 sydney teams chocking the city is the real problem
Not every team needs finals/premiership form just need good faithful support at game day, Newcastle knights are the perfect example 3 wooden spoons but still have crowds, parramatta eels have high attendances/ memberships but still have yet to win since the late 80s
New Zealand does not play AFL, this is already a win, north qld doesnt have an afl team 2 wins, we managed to get an NRL team in Melbourne, lets do it again 3 times over, and even add PNG truly make it national, all it takes is a few relocations or demotions from some sydney clubs

Manly and Easts are still there tho
Thats enough villains for me

Darwin, NT?

This correct, hell i wouldn’t put it past Andrew Forest to say hey NRL how would you like a rugby team called western force, drop the breakaways and continue in perth as is, im sure the expats would be ok to watch league if there team was still there
And who cares about “the gap between the bridge and Newcastle” as long as there is a pathway to a nrl team, im for re-enstating the bears on the central coast
Thats just money coming in anywhich way its looked upon,
Manly are better off playing ISP, just as newtown are, they could filter the pathways to the roosters being eastern suburbs and manly being eastern of the bridge, id prefer they merge and be eastern suburbs again

Perth could work with a relocated team, but manly are not that team, it would have to be either financially stable, or have already a well established brand,
wests tigers for me would work, name and a strong mascot works, plus colors black gold white, Almost western reds colors,
Its western reds without the red

Tigers should play at western Sydney stadium, or move to perth where they can have optus stadium all to themselves
Along with a bigger grant fron the NRL
And support from over 3million residents that are in perth, as oppose to the 1.5 million when the western reds were there
Actually any team in sydney would be stupid not to move,
Also adeliade and darwin should also be looked into as possible future relocations too

This is probably the best answer ive seen in a while now, adds central coast and returns a heritage club in bears for nostalgia
Id add in less home games in penrith
(from 12 to 8) and have them play the other 4 home games in country towns
bathurst, orange, mudgee, dubbo for example (Greater Western Panthers)
Wests tigers to perth, better facilities, one city backing it
Dragons in Wollongong morso (8 games 4 in kogarah)
Adelaide should get some major focus too
Relocate a Sydney team there, ie roosters, sea eagles or sharks,
And revert names of teams,
Auckland Warriors, not NZ
Eastern Suburbs Roosters, not Sydney
No one respects that team coz they think they represent “Sydney”
There are currently 9 teams in sydney
Anyone of them could call themselves that
(Except penrith, bit too far)
NRL crowd numbers in sydney are an issue due to the tribal nature of the supporters
If im a tigers supporter, fat chance id be going to watch a Manly v Canterbury game, where Aleague and AFL crowds tend to watch any two teams play, especially since NRL stadiums over price on food and beverages
I went to leichardt over a month ago to watch dragon v tigers and paid over $60 just on food and beers, a can of VB $8 each, ripp off!!!
Went to semi final panthers v sharks at allianz 2 weeks ago, food spent $50 for me and my daughter,
Id rather the ticket price inflated than over pay for crap food, fix it up NRL!

Love the effort in their comebacks, i was at the manly game, and watched as kikau blake and cleary tore the tired manly defence apart in the space of 7 mins
Its happened all season, but the trick was never to do this at the last 15mins of each game, but to stick out the first half, and not give up a massive lead, and save all the energy for a full 2nd half of points
There have been games this year where the riff have not given up starts and gone away to win the game, just the memorable games are the last quarter comebacks
Way too many threads and news topics on penriths potential, and what could be better, howabout celebrate another year of finals and an extremely close finals this year where the top 8 finished between 32-34 points, even with the instability of referees descions and rule changes mid season.
Had penrith won a game more or 2 the ladder would have them resting a week through the finals, and 1 point loss to a very smart, experienced and tough sharks team, who already beat them twice this year, to me speaks volumes, as i witnessed a very scared, and injury riddled sharks side when penrith locked up at 20 all
Penriths last few plays were atrocious, but they seemed to be going for a try not a field goal, all except for Cleary efforts

Dude its not a draft, Ivan Cleary will just pay out the contract penalty, its not a player swap either, tigers are just forcing him to stay now, knowing they could have helped him…. if you think ivan was mad about being let go by Panthers in 2015, watch him pull the thread on all he just built

But hey if tigers need a coach i hear Anthony Griffin is available

Booyahhh!!
Hey i remember when daly cherry evans back flipped on titans
Or hall of famer Big Gordy tallis decided to sit on the sidelines for a season, gotta luv bennet

Best one i remember is the dogs paying out des hasler, sounds familiar….

contracts are a fickle thing, they’re not for the public to decide tho thats what managers are for.
Each contract is signed by both parties and are either paid out or negotiated futher, its just insurance,
nathan brown has the right idea, his contract is open ended, genius!
tigers are screwed here, not because they are about to lose nathan and ivan
But because they think they’re saints, where’s Potter, Taylor and Sheens now, they’re not head coaching any NRL teams

Im not sure drivers seat is where the tigers are
Pascoe pretty much the told ivan he is basically not going to be able coach his son,
Gus and panthers board has cleared the path to re-unite them pretty much now, before the November deadline on nathan,
Its not about Ivan tho, its about nathan, after November every NRL team will be coming with cheque books, the tigers think they had nathan in the bag, because ivan was the bargaining chip they thought they had. But another team might pay a truckload and ivan and nathan couldn’t refuse, but panthers offer is beneficial to them together, whilst having the team already built around nathan, everyone has been locked up/extended at penrith barr nathan

Gus said if nathan wants to play with ivan, he won’t stand in his way
No one mentioned the tigers
Everyone assumes,
3 coaches last year got punted
Finally someone can leave without being punted on their terms,

Nepotism, its what made Ivan tired 3 years ago
You all really think ivan hated gould all this time, why in gods name leave your first born there
No coincidence Nathan started his 1st grade debut after dad stepped away, Ivan mentioned him being afraid of nepotism on his interview with 360 a few weeks back
Nathan and the 20s team were smashing teams, ciraldo was coach, gus and ivan knew soon that 20s team would be in 1st grade within a few years, say what ever you like about ivan, but a dad that would take hits for his son, is honourable
As for Wests Tigers, their board, Pascoe and Marina Go (who btw didnt even know who laurie daley was, the then NSW coach, & canberra legend) are kidding themselves, crying about honouring contracts, when they dudded how many coaches, players and have now been smooth sailling with ivans hard work
How is he repayed, nope we will not let this golden goose go, especially since we planned to sign Nathan Cleary behind everyones back before November, our fans and STAKEHOLDERS will be needing compo, give me your talent, howzabout good luck coaches are not players, salary caps dont apply,
And the NRL can only fine any breaches

Good luck Clearys do whats best for you
Don’t worry about tigers, the board are all concerned with money, the players are all used to the merry go round that is rugby league
And Josh Reynolds said it best, he’d be happy to see Ivan happy regardless where he chooses to be, sad about not having as coach
But happy that he gets what he had worked hard for

Contracts have never meant anything, its an insurance policy to cover both parties should the worst happen, well pascoe, you got served
Trying to poach penriths halfback, gus has every right to return serve

Prior to the tigers besting the bunnies they had their run, but only had 1 top 8 team they played and won against the sharks
Yes they beat storm this week, but im not buying it, still think bunnies will choke against, the likes of Roosters, Warriors, Panthers and Broncos in the finals, they’re lack 80 minute performance in their forwards

Their support base had risen past 45% in membership in 2017/2018, the highest of all the teams last year, which has a lot to do with their form, which would be the same for teams who are also travelling well, but this is something else.
In regards to the Greater Western Panthers
(Named after the Great Western Highway)
and the role they would play, Its moreso cutting down home games in penrith to make them more valued
As well as inclusion to major areas in country towns that need pathways to NRL
One game a year in bathurst isnt enough
But its a great start, other nrl clubs should also covent a similar approach to areas that have limited access to live nrl matches like darwin which cowboys and parramatta frequently visit

This is incorrect, there are plenty of players not getting a chance to play 1st grade this year, trent hodkinson, who was getting dropped to lower grades
And he was NSW halfback when they won the series, he only got to play this year, coz dugan and moylan were injured
Segeyaro also dropped, and is keen for a PNG Hunters to acquire a license,
NRL site had a news topic about how many high profile players that were not playing in their 1st grade side, due to the depth being too good, until injuries get them the called up,
Wests tigers forward pack is full of low profile players, other than lawrence, matalino and packer yet they are extremly formidable and also Corey Thompson coming from the UK super league is futher evidence that they are talented players available from overseas too
There should be enough quality players and talent to spread around 20 Clubs
Penrith ISP team could rival parramattas 1st grade side on current form
And Norths bears and surrounding talent in that central coast region would already beat most nrl sides
This stortage of players and not there is enough quality is a myth that clubs want you to believe, so the money handed out by tv rights stays in 16 teams instead of spread over 20, which if was expanded to include perth, adelaide, PNG, CC, and
More games in brisbane, would be close to doubling the tv rights deal
These nrl clubs bickering between each other is narrow minded